Noah Syndergaard gets 'goosebumps' over endless Mets possibilities

WEST PALM BEACH – Noah Syndergaard didn’t bother suppressing the heat in his Grapefruit League debut.

The flame-throwing right-hander clocked in at 98 mph on the first pitch and settled in the upper-90s across two shutout innings against the Astros on Monday. Syndergaard topped out at 99 mph in the second inning as he retired the side in order. Of Syndergaard’s 23 pitches, 19 were strikes.

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"If you're not going 100 percent ... I know it's early, but if you try to take a little bit off early in games like this, you put yourself more at risk for higher injury,” Syndergaard said on dialing it up on his first game. “If you got it in the tank, then I don't see why not to get after it."

A day after ace Jacob deGrom made his spring debut hurling 97 mph fastballs, manager Mickey Callaway said both pitchers are exactly where they need to be at this point in camp. Still, Syndergaard is always looking to improve his game.

And after watching his teammate win the topmost pitching accolade last season, Syndergaard said he’d be content competing with the utmost conviction on every single pitch, so long as it leads to a Cy Young award on his own shelf. Yet, the Mets renewed energy is exciting Syndergaard the most.

“The thought of approaching this 2019 season as a whole — the pitching staff, the team, the newest acquisitions — it gives me goosebumps,” Syndergaard said. “It gets me excited. It brings me back to that feeling we had in 2015 when we made it all the way to the World Series and unfortunately fell a bit short. But I mean, it’s kind of a feeling — it’s tough to describe with words, but there’s a lot of excitement.”

There wasn’t much of that talk in 2018, as the Mets fell off quickly after a strong start, though not at the fault of Thor. Last season, Syndergaard (13-4) relied heavily on his two-seam fastball because it provided lateral movement and depth. In an attempt to mystify more batters this year, he wants to establish himself with the four-seam fastball.

“I fell in love with the two-seamer because it’s an artsy pitch,” Syndergaard said. “It’s cool when you harness it, but sometimes if you’ve got a little tweak in your mechanics, the two-seamer might move way too early in the delivery. So it ends up drifting to the middle of the plate.”

On Monday, Syndergaard gave up a leadoff hit to two-time All-Star George Springer and another single to Josh Reddick in the first inning. He worked out of trouble with help from catcher Tomas Nido, who caught Reddick attempting to steal for the second out.

The 26-year-old incorporated his four-seamer and struck out a couple of batters due to the elevation in the zone. Callaway said if Syndergaard feels comfortable with it and can include more four-seamers in his game, it would help the pitcher.

"He's a perfectionist,” Callaway said. “And he wants to go out there and not give up anything at all times. From my standpoint, when he's been out there and healthy, he's been a top 5, 6 pitcher in the game. So if he wants to continue to improve, that's a great attitude to have."